The invention relates to a soldering iron equipped with means for removing by suction solder fumes created by resin incorporated in the solder, comprising a handle having an electrically heated element with an outer metal casing, a soldering tip connected to said element, and a metallic suction nozzle, one end of which nozzle lies in the proximity of the soldering tip and the other end of which is connected to a suction channel located in the handle, this suction channel in turn being connected to a flexible plastics hose connected to a suction source.
Such soldering irons are particularly suited for removing the irritating and often harmful fumes generated by the solder flux incorporated in the solder or used separately in conjunction therewith, this flux containing volatile resins. The most serious drawback with soldering irons of this kind is the relatively short time in which they can be used before needing to clean the nozzle and the suction channel. In normal soldering irons of this kind, nominally about 30 liters of air are drawn through the nozzle each minute, which means that the temperature of the nozzle is much lower than that of the solder fumes generated. This means in turn that vaporised resins condense and solidify in the nozzle and/or the suction channel such that the suction effect is totally lost as a result of these resin deposits after only some few hours of use. These deposits, or resin plugs, are removed, for example, with the aid of chemical solvents or by mechanical means, which is often a time-laborious task.